Paula Moore earned a B.A. cum laude in French from Dickinson College, Certificate of French studies from Institut de Touraine, and M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Hood College.  She studied and lived in France on three occasions.  As a four-time Who’s Who recipient, Paula received a Star Staff Award, Chamber of Commerce Award of Excellence in Education, WCPS Golden Apple Award, and a Senate of Maryland Resolution.  Proclaimed the town of Williamsport’s citizen of the month, Paula advises several student organizations and accompanies students abroad for school-sponsored trips.  She has served on numerous committees including the MSDE Standard Setting Praxis Exam Panel and Senator Donald Munson’s Scholarship Committee. She testified for the Governor’s Commission on Quality Education and participated in Washington County’s Minority Achievement Taskforce.  Skilled in teaching Advanced Placement French, Paula has facilitated staff development on AP, reading, differentiated instruction, and block scheduling.

How has the way you teach changed over the course of your career? What lessons have you learned?

From the first moment I started teaching I believed the anonymous quote “students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Only after my own experiences as a parent did I start to see my students as if they were my own children, treating them the same way I would want my children to be treated.  I started caring for them with even more respect, dignity, and compassion.  I have learned that being a teacher means being a life-enhancer, one who nurtures students’ minds, talents, and souls.
  
The first day I sent my own children to day care was when I truly understood what an incredible act of faith a parent puts in educators by entrusting their children to a teacher they do not know.  I felt left out of my children’s lives because I did not know about every moment of their day at school.  So, I started communicating more often with parents.  Instead of calling home only when there was a problem, I called home to say what a wonderful student their child was. 

What advice would you give to a teacher who's starting their first year and feels overwhelmed?

Take a deep breath, relax, and know that feeling overwhelmed is completely normal.  Try to pinpoint the sources of your stress.  Paperwork, discipline problems, time management, and planning lessons can be sources of stress for any teacher of any level of experience.  Collaborate with a mentor.  Your mentor will guide you and teach you some tricks of the trade to make teaching easier, more fun, and more effective.  Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of a good teacher wanting to be even better. 

Being a first year teacher is much like being a beginning driver.  As with any new skill, you only become better with practice and experience.  Surround yourself with positive, impassioned, and enthusiastic colleagues.  Re-affirm yourself daily by remembering why you became a teacher.  Remain positive, keep your chin up, and believe in yourself! 

What do you think the key has been to your success as a teacher?

When you love the teaching profession the way I do, passion, enthusiasm, and energy will abound in you in every aspect of your job.  Enthusiasm is infectious and it will positively influence everyone around you including students, staff, administrators, parents, and community members.  If I do my best and expect the best, then others will give me their best.  I do everything in my power to make my students feel safe to be themselves while laughing, having fun, and learning.  I affirm my students by letting them know they are wonderful gifts to the world, and they respond because they know I believe in them.
     
I am willing to take risks and try new things.  Even if I fail, the students see me as a person and not a “sage on the stage.”  Hopefully, students see that every experience is a learning experience where not even the teacher is excused from learning. 

How do you keep your students engaged in the classroom?

Instruction in my classroom is interactive and student-centered so that students are constantly manipulating, practicing, and using French.  I combine games, competitions, and drama with Howard Gardner’s kinesthetic, linguistic, musical, visual, and interpersonal intelligences to create a fun learning experience. 

Brain research indicates that the average attention span of teenagers is limited to five or ten minutes.  As a result, I rapidly change activities and groupings so that students will be engaged and involved, preventing boredom and discipline problems.  To make the French language and culture come to life in the classroom, I invite guest speakers from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to discuss their personal experiences.  Every winter, I invite a Parisian native to demonstrate how to make a traditional French Yule log cake.  To be involved in the culture, students can experience the world outside the classroom by traveling with me to France and Québec.  I give students opportunities to go to French restaurants, museums, the symphony, and French plays.